Anandapur: The Belabahali area in Anandapur area of Keonjhar is back in focus for its old bridge which has become dilapidated, posing a threat to operation of vehicles, a report said.
The bridge is on the NH-20. After completion of the highway reconstruction, toll collection has been in full swing, but no attention is being paid to the crying need for repair of the bridge, which was built during the British era.
On the other hand, the work on a new bridge has been left halfway.
Thousands of heavy vehicles, trucks and buses cross the bridge on a daily basis. The bridge is shaky and a slight inadvertency may cause mishap on it, locals said.
The NHAI which is supposed to look after the bridge maintenance is allegedly doing little, despite collecting toll. In the last two years, several vehicles have fallen off the bridge and over 20 people have lost their lives. The potholed crater-full bridge has no protective barriers.
It may be noted here that police and public had several rounds of confrontation over the site of the new bridge in 2015. The public resentment had taken several months to subside and the issue was settled in 2017, paving way for construction of the new bridge.
Gayatri Construction which was carrying out the bridge work left the project halfway a year ago. With the new bridge incomplete, there is no alternative for vehicles to pass except use the creaky old bridge.
The ramshackle structure bears the loads of thousands of iron ore-laden trucks from Keonjhar, Joda and Sundargarh. The bridge is narrow and causes traffic jam for hours as two four wheelers can’t cross at a time. Locals say vehicles have to crawl for hours at this point.
Locals have warned of agitation if no immediate step is taken by the NHAI to repair the bridge.
PNN
